From Friday, like on the suburban railway system, commuters will be able to avail of a monthly pass even on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro and save a maximum of 33 per cent of the amount they are currently spending on Metro tokens.

The Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), which has constructed the Metro on a public private partnership and now operates the system, has launched two types of monthly passes useful mostly for commuters traveling beyond one stop. Instead of having to pay Rs 15 or Rs 20 one-way, commuters using the monthly pass can travel any distance paying Rs 13.33 per trip.

Accordingly, the MMOPL has introduced one type of pass costing Rs 600 for 45 trips and another costing Rs 800 for 60 trips. The validity of both the passes would be 30 days.

Currently, there is a fare structure of Rs 10-15-20 in place for the 11.4-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro. The fare of Rs 10 is applicable to only those commuters who have to get down on the immediate next stop after boarding the Metro. This fare structure will be in place till September 30, beyond which the tariff is likely to be revised.

“While, the trip based passes will exist even after that, the trip-based fare may be revised. In case of revision, the MMOPL will intimate commuters well in advance about the new fare structure to be offered to the pass holders well in advance,” an MMOPL spokesperson said.

He added that this is the first time that a trip-based pass has been introduced for commuters in any general Metro system.

The MMOPL has also made arrangements for current smart-card holders to convert their cards to trip-based passes. As of July 8, when the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro completed one month of commercial services, around 2.25 lakh smart cards were in service with more than 50 per cent commuters using smart cards.

While the smart cards do not offer a flat fare, to encourage their use, the MMOPL has limited the maximum fare that commuters using smart cards have to pay to Rs 15 instead of Rs 20.